Iveco Grand Prix of Aragon 2013

Posted on Sep 23, 2013 by Nick Harris

ROUND FOURTEEN 2013 MotoGP™ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 29

Bradley Smith enjoyed a good test at Misano the day after the Grand Prix and is hopeful a change of riding position to his Yamaha will bring him nearer the leaders in those final five races.

Bradley Smith:
“The test was all about trying to figure out what went wrong during the last couple of races and I believe we found a good direction.  We have come back more towards my base setting with some specific changes for this track.  I changed the rider position and that definitely helped me.  Maybe not so much on new tyres but definitely on worn tyres and with a full fuel load as well because more of my weight was over the rear.  It was a very positive day and we leave here for Aragon a lot closer to where we need to be and more confident for the rest of the season.”

FIVE TO GO FOR MARQUEZ WITH ARAGON NEXT STOP
MotoGP rookie Marc Marquez holds an impressive 34 point lead in the 18 round World Championship with just five rounds remaining starting at the Iveco Grand Prix of Aragon in Spain on Sunday. The 20 year old Repsol Honda rider’s chances of re-writing the history books has been boosted by his two second places in the last two races despite World Champion Jorge Lorenzo winning them both for the factory Yamaha team.

Lorenzo moved into second place in the championship after his superb start to win in Misano, but it’s a big ask to pull back that big margin of points against Marquez who has already won five grands prix this season. All Lorenzo can do is keep winning races and hope Marquez makes a mistake. Dani Pedrosa, team-mate to Marquez, is also 34 points adrift but has not beaten the championship leader since the sixth round of the title chase in Barcelona. Pedrosa won the Aragon race last year and needs to reproduce the form he showed at the end of last season. Marquez won the Moto2 race a couple of years ago.

Nine times World Champion Valentino Rossi is fed up with fourth place. The Yamaha rider has finished fourth in the last four races and is fourth in the World Championship on his fourth appearance at Aragon. Fifth placed Cal Crutchlow has struggled recently but bounced back with a sixth place in the last round at Misano and looks to consolidate his fifth place in the championship with a 22 point advantage over Stefan Bradl riding the LCR Honda.

Spaniard Alvaro Bautista is a further 12 points adrift in seventh place in front of the Ducati duo of Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden. Both have finished on the Aragon podium with Hayden third in 2010 and Dovizioso third last year in a great scrap with then team-mate Crutchlow. Bradley Smith and Aleix Espargaro are tied on points in 11th place with the Spanish top CRT rider checking his starts on Sunday after a ride through penalty in Misano.

Yonny Hernandez makes his debut at Pramac Ducati replacing the injured Ben Spies and joining former Aragon Moto2 winner Andrea Iannone. Italian Luca Scassa replaces the injured Karel Abraham on the Cardion AB Art machine.

ARAGON FACTS AND FIGURES
The Motorland Aragon circuit is the newest of all European venues to stage grand prix motorcycle racing. This will only be the fourth MotoGP race to be staged at the 3.155 miles circuit.

The original grand prix in 2010 was brought in as a replacement for the Hungarian Grand Prix when work had not started on the proposed new Balatoring circuit.

Australian Casey Stoner won the first MotoGP race in 2010 for Ducati. He followed up with a win for Repsol Honda the next year on his way to the World title. His team-mate Dani Pedrosa was victorious last year. Spaniard Pol Espargaro is the only other double winner with victories in the inaugural 125 cc race in 2010 and Moto2 last year.

Circuit Length: 3.115 miles
Width: 15m
Pole Position: Right
Longest Straight: 968m
Left Corners: Ten
Right Corners: Six 
Pole Position Record: Casey Stoner/Honda1.48.451 (2011)
Lap Record: Casey Stoner/Honda1'49.046 (2011)

TELEVISION TIMES
BBC/BRITISH EUROSPORT
Friday 27 September
MotoGP FP 1 Connected TV/Online
Moto3/MotoGP/Moto2 FP 2 Connected TV/online and British Eurosport 2

Saturday 28 September
08:45 - 09:40 MotoGP FP3, Connected TV and Online
11:20 - 15:00 Moto3/MotoGP and Moto2 Qualifying Red Button and British Eurosport 2
13:00 - 14:05 MotoGP Qualifying BBC 2

Sunday 29 September

09:50 Moto3 and Moto2 race Red Button and British Eurosport 2
12:30 - 14:15 MotoGP race BBC 2